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Cochrane's Attack on the Basque Roads

When: 11-24 April 1809
Where: Basque Roads
Part of: Battle of the Basque Roads: Royal Navy attacks the French fleet

Lord Cochrane led a squadron of fireships and bomb vessels into the Basque Roads on 11 April 1809, destroying several French ships.

Cochrane organized an inshore squadron of fireships and bomb vessels, including a converted frigate. He personally led this force into the Basque Roads on the evening of 11 April. Cochrane expected Gambier to follow with the main fleet, but Gambier refused. Cochrane continued the battle over the next several days, successfully destroying several French ships.

Sources

Battle of the Basque Roads Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.